Grandpa And The Rockstar

It's been a emotional and heart-wrenching few days. My grandpa passed away early Tuesday morning after looking as though he would recover from the brief illness that snuck up on him. After hearing the news, my husband and I traveled back home to be with my family, spending most of our time talking with relatives I haven't seen in years, force-feeding myself cold cuts and coffee, and remembering my grandpa's life (the good, the bad, and the goofy). No one can adequately express the way your body can shut off and become numb for days on end. I ate when others ate because the clock said to. I talked to strangers at the viewing and acted interested in what they had to say, but I couldn't understand why we were talking about the weather in the first place. In between waves of choking sobs, all I really could feel was tired and empty.
It's a good thing then, that I have a husband that understands the need for humor (timed appropriately, of course) during situations like these. I found it LESS than humurous when he woke me up early Tuesday morning, wearing nothing more than a t-shirt (literally... nothing else), to tell me that my grandpa had passed. Nor did his incessant need to chew on and spit out sunflower seeds for the entire 6 hour drive to my folk's house fill me with laughter. However, it was during the luncheon that followed the service and burial that I needed a hearty chuckle.... which I received when my husband spotted my elderly great-aunt (donning large blonde hair and a cape-like shawl covered in rhinestones) and said, "Who does she think she is? Jem's grandmother?" (If you're not a child from the '80's, just give up now.) I laughed out loud until tears (happy ones this time) ran down my cheeks. I felt amazing relief as I doubled over with the giggles in the middle of an otherwise somber event. And knowing my grandpa, he probably used some heavenly access to google Jem and the Holograms and I'm guessing he belly-laughed as well.